Brynie Staak

Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

Group Catalogue Site

So Did You See

The main themes this body of work explores are the everyday, value, connection, and art historical references. Within the context of lockdown in South Africa, and being at home, the mundane and everyday became monumental. I found myself in an area where access to materials was low, and it felt like a natural reaction for me to use what I had around me and recycled items to make art.

Through the act of making and drawing attention to materials and objects that would be considered insignificant or a waste, they become valuable. The title So Did You See, draws on this act of noticing. At a time when physical contact was limited, I wanted to connect to people through the work I make, whether it was directly, in an online workshop format, or simply by viewing it and drawing connections within the art itself.

The work references Western modernist art history – specifically Dadaism and Abstract Expressionism. I critique the movements in a tongue-in-cheek way with scale and the materials used, questioning the value we place on Eurocentric artists, what we consider to be art, and the gendered space of Western modernity. In the process of making, I attempt to subvert the White patriarchal narrative of Western art that has been portrayed, and the value placed on this narrative. The influence of colour theory is an important component of this body of work, specifically drawing from Josef Albers’ Interaction of Colour (1963), where a white wall is no longer just a white wall.

This is how I see colour relating to the notion of the everyday. It is there to be observed and to be noticed. The titles are cut out pieces from biscuit, medicine and other boxes I could find. Playing on the chance element of Dadaism. There is a playful element: seeing what will happen when I place two colours together, or if I zoom in, take something away, add on to, make smaller or bigger, translate to another material, and so on. The exhibition itself shows both finished works, as well as process work since this was a big part of how I made work this year; including a workshop format of making.